And he did it with his family in attendance. "Yeah, that was fun," Witt said. "The crowd, Texas-sized crowd, it was a lot of fun being able to just do that and experience that with my brother-in-law and family in the stands.
"Just to be able to make it to the finals, it was awesome. And Teoscar (Hernandez) put on a great show. It was so much fun to be out there.
" Witt came up just short to Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Hernandez in the final round. Witt hit 13 home runs and trailed Hernandez by one homer with one pitch left. With his last swing, Witt hit a deep fly ball that clanged off the outfield fall.
The ball traveled nearly 410 feet to the deepest part of the field before falling to the ground, eliminating Witt in heartbreaking fashion. Later, in the American League clubhouse, he caught a replay of the final moments of the derby. Witt was hopeful he'd gotten enough of the ball to tie up the round and force a "swingoff" tiebreaker.
"When I hit it, I kind of knew I didn't hit it great," Witt said. "Yeah, I was just trying to blow on it." While Witt didn't get the final pop of the night, he received a well-earned reaction from his homestate crowd.
Fans chanted "Bobby" as he vied for Royals history. He could've become the first Royal to win the Home Run Derby. He's just the fourth shortstop in baseball history to appear in the derby's final round.
In all, Witt hit 50 home runs in the contest — the most of any competitor Monday night. He totaled 20,428 feet in homers and .
